By Simone Jasper
The News & Observer
PAGELAND, S.C. — Tennis balls were stuffed with drugs — and heading to a prison’s grounds, South Carolina officials said.
A group who had a launching device had planned to hurl the balls toward a prison, according to the Pageland Police Department.
But that scheme was derailed when officers stopped a car that was bound for the detention center, police said Wednesday in a news release.
“Upon further investigation, officers located a launcher with canisters, tennis balls that were cut that contained tobacco and green leafy substance,” and a Fruity Pebbles-covered ball of THC, the substance that contributes to mental effects of marijuana, officials said.
A photo that Pageland police posted to Facebook shows the substance formed into about a dozen rough balls and wrapped in plastic.
In all, police said they found about a quarter-pound of marijuana, more than 1 pound of tobacco and open alcohol containers. Three people were arrested in connection with the case, though police in a Facebook post didn’t list attorneys for them.
Terrell Freeman, Terrell Rashad Jones and Alexia Shakiya Turner Stewart are all charged with possession with intent to distribute marijuana, criminal conspiracy and open container. Freeman faces additional driving-related charges, and Stewart faces another drug-related charge, according to police.
Officials didn’t say which prison the group is accused of trying to reach. The Evans Correctional Institution and Bennettsville Federal Correctional Institution are about 45 miles from Pageland.
The town is in Chesterfield County, roughly 75 miles northeast of Columbia and near the North Carolina border.
(c)2021 The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.)